Those who don't feed raw

[kamillaw]

Do you use kibble or wet? We've mixed both but I would rather put her onto kibble only with the odd treat (sardines etc) to mix it up. Thoughts?

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Mostly a mixture of cold pressed and wet. PestDog likes a variety and gets a bit bored, so I chop and change - often I've got a few varieties of wet available and one or two types of dry. He also gets a few scraps.

IMHO the quality is far more important than a choice between wet and dry. Have you come across //www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk? It's a fantastic resource which rates dog food for nutritional quality and also works out price per day.

[Mmmmdanone]

We use kibble with warm water. Makes it easier to eat. We make sure it has a high meat content though. Some cheaper ones are mainly grains which isn't great for the dog.

[fedupandlookingforchange]

We use both, biscuits and tinned in the morning, just biscuits at night. Tinned is chappie.
Have fed just biscuits in the past but they do like the tinned stuff. Also feed leftovers such as cooked veg, meat or rice but not potatoes.

[FrangipaniBlue]

FrangipaniPup gets dry kibble (wheat free) mixed in with cooked eggs for breakfast and dry kibble mixed with cooked chicken for tea.

Occasionally we add leftover veggies at teatime or tuna for a treat.

[kamillaw]

Yes I like the idea of biccies and scraps... Thanks. Looking to swap to a better quality kibble if taking out the wet.

[sweetkitty]

Our hound gets Millie’s Wolfheart high quality kibble

[Floralnomad]

Our very picky dog is currently having scrambled egg and cheese bake for breakfast and Millie’s Wolfheart kibble and Applaws wet for tea . The Applaws is quite expensive but there are lots of varieties and he does like them .

[Cherrypies]

kamillaw
Where do you get your sardines, is it in spring water, I have tried sainsburys and morrisons, but can only find in oil or sauce, which I have read is not good for them.
Thank you.

[Empathy56]

Our boy has Grain free turkey and vegetable dry food but has cooked chicken daily too.

[Topseyt]

Mine have been fine for years on kibble.

I use Skinner's Field and Trial, and each meal is soaked in warm water.

They also get to lick up any suitable scraps after we have finished our meals too. They like that.

[BiteyShark]

Kibble was too hard on my dog stomach and from his point of view far too boring to eat so we mostly feed a good quality wet food.

[adaline]

Mine won't eat plain kibble so we always mix it - either with wet food or scraps depending on the day.

I think a diet of plain, dry biscuits must be a bit shit, really!

He also gets plenty of natural chews.

[UrsulaPandress]

BastardSpaniel has been on Royal Canin since birth, with added scraps.

But a recent operation has knocked him for six and I needed him to eat to give him his Meds so he is now on wet food and bloody loving it. I feel a bit guilty having fed him dry boring biscuits for 11 years.

[kamillaw]

@Biteyshark how does that fair on his teeth?
In terms of sardines I drain the oil away and feed. X

[kamillaw]

Sorry forgot no X on Mumsnet!

[EleanorReally]

kibble, my previous dog had tinned foods and although she lived til she was about 17, she lost a lot of teeth. so we went straight away to dried food, for the sake of her teeth, the convenience and the price.
mixed with a bit of water

[EleanorReally]

and a good lick of the dish washer and a bit of natural yoghurt

[Mrsjayy]

Mine gets Dr johns Titanium dry food he used to be on chappie but the vet suggested this because he was on the skinny side.i sometimes mix through some scraps for him for a bit of variety.

[BiteyShark]

We, actually DH, brushes his teeth briefly every night which does make a difference.

Before we moved to wet we had such a battle getting him to eat. He just wasn't interested in kibble and moving to wet also made a huge difference to his poos (although we only feed those scoring above 4.0 on allaboutdogfood.co.uk wet such as forthglade, millies wolfheart and carnilove).

[Hazlenutpie]

We use Harringtons, our dog loves it and she’s extremely fit and well. She’s 10 this year and people still ask if she’s a puppy.

[missyB1]

Gosh whats wrong with oil? Missy dog often has tinned sardines or mackerel in olive oil, I thought it was good for her coat. Now I feel bad!

She mostly has Dry and wet Lily's kitchen though.

[Mrsjayy]

My dog gets sunflower oil and some tuna it has done wonders for his coat are they not supposed to have oil.?

[DogInATent]

Ours gets complete-feed kibble for breakfast, with her Yumove.
A small amount of biscuit at lunch (Bonio/Markies sort of thing).
Kibble and wet food in the evening.

Controlling her weight is a matter of controlling the kibble, which is energy dense and it's very easy to overfeed by not realising how many calories it represents.

She gets sardines in tomato sauce for her dinner instead of wet food once a week as a treat, with the sauce. And bit of whatever fruit and veg she likes as we're having it, and I'll substitute chicken, etc. if we're having it for the wet food in the evening.

[Amicompletelyinsane]

I feed dry. My dog has allergies so no way could he handle any other option. However I am increasingly seeing issues at work with people feeding raw diets. It seems really popular now but people don't read up on it. So the dogs aren't getting the right balance and it can cause all sorts of health issues

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Re the teeth cleaning, I've never cleaned my dog's teeth as frankly I'd probably lose a limb, judging by the eye drop debacle.

I know you said "not raw" and there are as many good reasons not to feed raw as there are reasons too (especially if, for instance, there's someone very elderly or immunosuppressed in your household) but my old vet recommended providing a raw meaty bone periodically for dental health. My local butcher sells them and they work out about 20p for a fist sized chunk (I freeze them individually and defrost accordingly). Once a week, if that, DDog gets one and spends ages stripping the meat from the bone and gnawing on the bone itself. He's nearly 3 and his teeth are pearly white. I don't feed raw other than that.

Steer well clear of Dentastix and the like - they're full of crap and don't do much good for the teeth either.